Out and back from the Brainard Lake Trailhead on an unusual weather day, that started gloomy and kept getting nicer. Neat little summit block, quite the view. Looking forward to returning to this area for more.

Couldn't of had a better Labor Day hiking 2 wonderful 12ers. First Pawnee Peak, then Shoshoni. The summit block and very small summit was incredible. Headed down the east face boulder field. Deffinatly my favorite 12er to date.

Descent via skirting down east ridge looks pretty good, as Kane states - almost did it, but had a pulled hamstring and didn't feel up to the "unknown" of off-trail travel today. Next time. Might be a fun/easy ascent route from Isabelle lake in snow conditions. ????

Scrambled over to this peak after hiking Pawnee Peak. My wife went down below to the tundra bench to photograph wildflowers. I loved the final summit pillar. Some of the most excellent views. For some reason, this mountain was one of my favorites in the area. Just had a great feeling standing up on top by myself, admiring the rugged IPW. Met a fellow on my way down who was headed for the summit to mark the 51st anniversary of his first mountain climb, which was Chief's Head. Admirable.

Did a quick trail run up from Long Lake to Shoshoni and back. About 1hr 45min up. Thunderstorms moving in, so bailed on my plan to traverse to Pawnee and Toll. Nice day to be out though. Great wildflowers!

This peak's tiny summit tower and scramble, combined with the sheer drops around it and AMAZING views of the surrounding peaks can trick you into thinking it was a better climb than it actually was. The pawnee pass trail route sucks (it's unnecessarily long). For distance/time's sake it's best to leave it on the big bench below the pass and to the east of Shoshoni. Just contour up the talus slopes and you'll save unnecessary ups-and-downs along the ridge from Pawnee Pass (while sacrificing some good views). I downclimbed a more direct route into the basin to the east, slightly to the north of the shrunken 'Moosehead' snowfield. The terrain was slightly loose talus but nothing too bad.

This peak would go best as a snow climb in early summer of the 'Moosehead' in my opinion, allowing you to observe conditions on Navajo Snowfield and Queen's Way couloir on Apache peak.

Did this hike the next week after the awesome Audubon/Paiute loop. From Pawnee Pass I bypassed Shoshoni Summit and followed it's ridge (rim of Isabelle Glacier) about 1/2 mile to get an amazing view of the Apache massive. After the short and exciting sramble to the summit I decided to go for the loop and descend what I now know of as the East Ridge. Clear skies, surprisingly solitary, another beauty of the IPW.

Climbed Via the narrow mixed couloir. Bloody good route and not as bad as it looks. The lower rock portions is a low 5th class, w/ the traverse over to the snow being the stiffest part. have fune, the snow is great!

This climb was our "snow climb" as part of graduating from the CMC's Basic Mountaineering School. This also provides an alternate approach to the NE Face, although I believe we stayed more in the couloir east of the peak than the "Moosehead" snowfield as it is referred to on this site.

From the winter road closure near Red Rock Lake, we hiked up the road, past Brainard Lake and to the Pawnee Pass Trail. We followed this trail, mostly on snow, to Isabelle Lake, but rather than continuing on the trail to the east ridge, or Pawnee Pass, we followed the drainage above the lake for almost 1/2 mile, until at about 11,100'.

From here, we turned north (right) and ascended a moderately steep south-facing snowfield in a previously hidden couloir for 600' up to the level spot on the east ridge at 11,800'. From here, the NE Face provided several options, the most direct being a shallow snow-filled coulour leading just east of the summit tower. The final ascent was made from the north ridge to access the summit block.

Descent was made by following NE Face couloirs (glissades!!!) and then intersecting the Pawnee Pass Trail at 11,800'. More glissades were used to avoid switchbacks on the trail, the final one over a cornice(!) off the bench just below Lake Isabelle. This is huge fun if you like romping in the spring snow.

As iceclimber said, lots of snow east of the divide right now. I ran into them close to the top of the pass on their way down. Thanks again for the steps guys! Absolutely gorgeous day. It was 50 degrees and totally calm on the summit. Outstanding view of the Apache massif and Isabelle Glacier from the top of the summit block.